SAN DIEGO, Oct. 7, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Millions of mobile phone users around the world are congregating to use their handsets with the objective of exchanging thoughts on subjects ranging from music, romance, politics...even the Universal Jedi Religion (for you Star Wars fans). This global mobile audience is meeting at a wireless junction called SMS.ac (www.sms.ac), where the world's largest community of mobile phone users is averaging approximately 1 million people that join its smsClubs each month in 2004 (www.sms.ac/clubs).
To date, more than 150,000 member-created smsClubs have been created at SMS.ac and hundreds of the smsClubs have thousands of people in them. Think of smsClubs as a wireless meeting place, where people that share common interests interact anywhere and at any hour, using their mobile devices. SMS.ac products are accessible via handsets and also through the company's consumer web site: www.sms.ac.
Michael Pousti, SMS.ac's chairman and chief executive officer, is no stranger to building communities. As CEO and founder of CollegeClub.com, he built what became the most widely used "youth" product on the Internet. At the time of its sale in 2000, Pousti and CollegeClub.com were generating in excess of five billion text messages per year amongst college students, mostly through email and instant messaging.
"It became obvious that it wasn't content that attracted and retained users to our products, it was community and communication," said Pousti. "The next step was to rip a page from what we learned in the online environment and then make it relevant to billions of mobile phone users around the world.
"Products like smsClubs (www.sms.ac/clubs) and smsFlirt (www.sms.ac/flirt) provide mobile phone users with a forum for what they like to do-- communicate with people that share their interests," continued Pousti. "And we understand that no one wants to be tethered to a PC in order to interact. The breadth of subject matter found in smsClubs is indicative of the wide appeal of mobile communications across typical demographic boundaries. 40 percent of our users are now over the age of 25."
If you're a fan of Mel Gibson movies, then the "I love Mel Gibson" smsClub (1,181 members) is for you. On the musical side, if you are in Romania and can't get enough of Vanilla Ice, check out the "Fans of Vanilla-Ice" club. With 17,880 members, that's a lot of Romanians sending SMS (text messages) about Ice Ice, Baby.
Recently, an smsClub (www.sms.ac/clubs), called the "Alibi and Excuse Club," was featured on the front page of the New York Times, on The Today Show and through various international news outlets.
A sampling of smsClubs from around the world and the number of SMS.ac members in those clubs include: "Funlovers" (8,259-- U.K.); " Penang badminton and bicycling club" (9,618-- Malaysia); "Soccer chat" (2,162-- Australia); "World of Islam" (9,744-- India); "Live football scores" (15,939-- Romania); "Worst Movies Ever" (1,216-- U.S.); "Official Prey for Rock and roll club" (2,619-- U.S.); and "Music with ghosts" (1,225-- Bangladesh). For more smsClubs, visit www.sms.ac/clubs.
Pousti says that registering with SMS.ac is free, as is sending messages within smsClubs. A listing of prices associated with using SMS.ac products is clearly visible during the registration process (www.sms.ac).
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About SMS.ac
SMS.ac, Inc. is a mobile data communications company whose proprietary MMSbox technology enables the exchange of text (SMS) and multimedia (MMS) mobile communications across any technology platform and renders them deliverable to virtually any enabled wireless device. A demonstration of MMSbox technology is available at www.sms.ac. With more than 10 million registered users in 170 countries, SMS.ac is host to the largest community of mobile phone users in the world. The company offers connectivity to more than 400 mobile networks worldwide. Through its core MMSbox(tm) technologies, SMS.ac, Inc. enables interoperable, worldwide wireless interaction between network operators, the Internet, enterprises, consumers and application/content developers. Through its global initiatives, SMS.ac is igniting the widespread adoption and use of wireless data.
SMS.ac derives revenues from shared revenue relationships with mobile operators around the world, as well as from mobile marketing campaigns, technology licensing, subscriptions, sponsorships and other streams. SMS.ac's consumer site (www.sms.ac) is an example of the brandable web interfaces to MMSbox(tm) technologies available for licensing. To view the SMS.ac corporate web site, visit www.sms.ac/corporate.